Delhi High Court to Rule on CAT 2024 Exam Dispute

Delhi High Court will decide on a petition challenging CAT 2024 exam results, alleging answer key errors. The petitioner claims lack of transparency and rush in result declaration, while IIM Calcutta defends its process. The final ruling may impact business school admissions across India.

The Delhi High Court is poised to release its verdict on a petition contesting the CAT 2024 examination results on Tuesday, January 7. This exam is a gateway for entry into prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top business schools. The petition was initiated by a candidate who asserts that significant errors in the official answer key substantially affected the test outcomes.

During the proceedings on January 3, Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju observed that judicial intervention in competitive examinations typically remains restricted to instances of major discrepancies. The court underscored that it cannot engage in such contentions unless specific and compelling circumstances arise. The petitioner highlighted an apparent mistake in one of the exam questions, backed by feedback from CAT coaching institutes and objection from other candidates. Evidence presented included 272 objections concerning a particular question, with IIM Calcutta, the exam's conducting body, allegedly failing to justify the correctness of their answer. Furthermore, the petitioner noted a lack of transparency due to undisclosed identities of the experts reviewing these objections, supported by coaching institute videos exposing discrepancies.

The petitioner urged the Court to evaluate the presented evidence. Senior Advocate Arvind Nayar, representing IIM Calcutta, staunchly opposed the petition, defending the institution's procedures. Nayar asserted that subject matter experts had meticulously examined all objections, emphasizing that differing opinions do not invalidate their expert judgment. Credentials of these experts were submitted to the Court in confidentiality.

The petitioner's legal representative also referenced a recent Delhi High Court decision where CLAT exam answer key errors led to a revision of results, criticizing IIM Calcutta for opacity in handling objections and hastening result announcements. The petitioner argued that releasing results earlier than expected deprived candidates of adequate time for legal actions. The CAT 2024 exam was conducted on November 24, the provisional answer key was released on December 3, and despite objections, the final answer key was unchanged, with results announced on December 19. The petition calls for annulling the results and establishing an expert panel to re-evaluate disputed answers.

(With inputs from agencies.)